Features

“The Marriage of Figaro” has been one of the world’s most popular operas almost since its first production in Vienna 222 years ago. Through Mozart’s immortal music, never more sublimely simple, and the revolutionary, politically-incorrect play of Beaumarchais, the complex depths of the human heart are plumbed under the deceptively pleasing guise of romantic farce. Nobody dies, true love triumphs and everyone is paired off appropriately.

Possessing intellect is not the only vital component to being successful in science; having fun is also essential.

A team of Los Alamos Middle School eighth-graders put this theory to the test during the regional and national Science Bowl competitions, and their conclusion revealed enjoyment and brains are equally important.

While members of Trinity on the Hill Episcopal Church and Bethlehem Lutheran Evangelical Church prepare to host the annual Vacation Bible School and Day Camp, which will be held July 7-11, the House of Hope Women are making preparations for the annual Vacation Bible School evening family dinner.

What would you do? You’re a middle-aged woman living in a big, suburban home. You and your husband have four daughters, one in high school, one in college and two in-between. Then one evening, your husband doesn’t come home – the same day, you find out, his secretary runs off to Sweden with her mysterious lover.

In Mike Binder’s “The Upside of Anger,” this is Terry Wolfmeyer’s (Joan Allen) situation. She decides to get mad.

TESUQUE, N.M. – The Santa Fe Opera’s new production of “Falstaff” opened the season Friday night with all the camp and circumstance befitting Giusseppe Verdi’s comic masterpiece, based on Shakespeare’s shameless, big-bellied rascal.

The Falstaff of the two-part “Henry IV,” called back for his own show in the “Merry Wives of Windsor, “has the patent on the role of the most deplorably loveable, gluttonous reprobate of all time.

Uli’s Cottontails is hosting a competition that requires skill, creativity, thought and lots of Legos. The annual Lego design competition allows young people to prove their strengths as builders with the plastic primary-colored blocks.

Los Alamos Public Schools’ physical condition could get some healing through a potential 20-year facility plan, but not all classrooms will be given attention.

“It’s just a matter of priority,” explained Los Alamos Public School Foundation board member Morrie Pongratz. For instance, at Los Alamos High School, the plan addresses B, C and D wings, but not E-wing, the location for science classrooms.

Seriously: Columbia Pictures paid Scott Rosenberg $1.2 million just to rewrite his own script, titled “Black Ice,” in 2000. Of course, he had a bit of an amazing track record with “High Fidelity,” “Con Air,” “Gone in Sixty Seconds” and “The Sentinel.” Nevertheless, since “Black Ice” remains unproduced, it’s hard to say whether he deserved it.

Amateur radio operators will be broadcasting across the country and throughout the world this weekend.

About 20 operators from Los Alamos Amateur Radio Club will be setting up stations, hooking up generators and transmitting their voices on radio waves from North Mesa Picnic Grounds to hone and sharpen their skills.

In 24 hours, the operators will attempt to make as many contacts as possible.

Janet Bosarge is preparing to move out of the area, but not before throwing one last art party. Bosarge’s fine arts party will be held from 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday at her home, located at 2326 Canyon Glen.

The art show will feature Los Alamos artists Mary Carol Williams and Ellen Randall. Sculpturor and photographer John Fleming, photographer Harry Clifford, oil painter Stede Barber, watercolor painter Barb Ruble and artist Christina Boyce of Des Moines, will also show their work at the party.

Primary colors will decorate the Kiwanis’ Fourth of July celebration; splashes of red, white and blue set aglow by glittery fireworks, will fill up Overlook Park July 4. The spectacle, which gathers together about 15,000 people, has been held for 30 years. Its origins started around the 1960s and began with a man interested in bringing a Fourth of July celebration, like the one from his home town, to Los Alamos.

Greg Abate (pronounced “Ah-bot-tay”) has been to the Hill a number of times, drawing enthusiast jazz fans from all over the mesas. He returns at 7 p.m. Friday at the intersection of Central Avenue and Main Street, under the auspices of the Los Alamos County Summer Concert Series.

My wife and I paid our first visit to Los Alamos last year. We thoroughly enjoyed our visit, the scenery was wonderful and the people were very friendly. The only downside was the lack of public transport, which meant we were dependent on our son to take us wherever we wanted to go.

I know this is a stereotype. I also know it’s true. Just look at a writer’s photo – just about any writer’s photo. They frown. They brood. They burn the camera with their heavy-lidded eyes. They look brilliant – but goofy? Fun-loving? Ebullient? I don’t think so.

Here’s the thing. We all ponder the universe from time to time. We reflect on our values. We search our souls for a good answer to the question, “What does it all mean?”

The New TOPS Club Inc. (Take Off Pounds Sensibly) Chapter will have its first meeting from 5:40-7 p.m. Thursday at the Los Alamos United Methodist Church. The new chapter will meet every Thursday. It will be starting off with some positive news.

The numbers have been tabulated and the results are in. Members of TOPS Club Inc. lost a total of 951,902 pounds or 476 tons last year. Members in the state of New Mexico shed 2,693.75 pounds. The queen lost 62.25 pounds to goal.

When John and June Warren went on their honeymoon, they would later call their vacation spot “home.” Los Alamos is more than just the place where John started his career at the laboratory or the location of June’s Montessori school, Ponderosa Montessori (formerly Sage Montessori). Los Alamos marks the beginning of their marriage.

Fifty years later, as John and June celebrated their anniversary June 7 with friends, their daughters, their granddaughter and several cousins, they reminisced about the start of their life together.

Since moving to Los Alamos two summers ago, I’ve heard many stories from folks who lived through the days of the great fire of 2000. The Cerro Grande fire changed the landscape of Los Alamos and the mountains surrounding it for decades to come. Not only did the fire cause erosion by burning down vegetation, it also damaged the soil.